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Duisenberg sees Irish finance ministers getting their kicks

European Central Bank head Wim Duisenberg has come under fire recently for failing to grace EU foreign ministers with his presence during their snooze-inducing councils.

European Voice

6/27/01, 5:00 PM CET

Updated 4/12/14, 6:58 AM CET

He did, however, give one of them special treatment last week, when he turned up at a riveting press conference hosted by

Ireland’s Charlie McCreevey. Officially, this was about plans for the euro’s introduction but the headlines it spawned suggested its purpose was to spotlight the Dublin government’s bickering over EU policy. Junior finance minister Tom Kitt criticised politicians intent on “kicking Europe in the shins”, and made it clear when quizzed by assembled hacks that his remarks were directed at his boss.

McCreevey had described his compatriots’ rejection of the Nice Treaty as a healthy anti-establishment gesture in Göteborg the previous weekend. Responding to Kitt’s rebuke, the straight-talking Kildare man retorted that he had been called far worse than a Eurosceptic and it was the EU which had kicked him in the shins this year.

This was an unsubtle reference to the reprimand delivered by his counterparts over his ‘inflationary’ recent budget.